Paxson Exemplified “Spirit of Broadcasting”

WASHINGTON� The National Association of Broadcasters will present the Spirit of Broadcasting Award posthumously to radio and television entrepreneur Lowell �Bud" Paxson during NAB Show in Las Vegas. His wife Marla will accept the award on behalf of her late husband during the NAB Show Television Luncheon, sponsored by RBC Capital Markets, on April 13 at the Westgate Hotel.

Paxson is the creator and co-founder of Home Shopping Network and family-friendly television network PAX TV, and was an advocate within the federal government for broadcast television.

�Bud Paxson was a visionary entrepreneur and superb advocate for over-the-air radio and television,� said NAB President and CEO Gordon Smith. �We are proud to honor his spirit with this award.�

The Spirit of Broadcasting Award recognizes general excellence and leadership and is given to individuals or organizations that have made lasting contributions to over-the-air broadcasting. Previous recipients include improvisation and acting training center The Second City; Hubbard Broadcasting founder Stanley E. Hubbard; telecommunications reporter Dawson "Tack" Nail; American Women in Radio and Television; "60 Minutes" creator and executive producer Don Hewitt; and Hispanic broadcasting pioneers Emilio Nicolas Sr. and Raoul A. Cortez.

Paxson developed a passion for TV, radio and showmanship at an early age. He was the deejay on radio show �Kiddie Go Round� at 14 years old, and following his graduation from Syracuse University, he became an owner of his first TV station by his early twenties.

His foray into the shopping world is mythic: In 1977, when an advertiser on his Clearwater, Fla., radio station could not pay his bill, Paxson accepted 118 avocado green can openers instead of money. Needing to make payroll the next day without the funds to do so, Bud took to the radio microphone and announced he would sell the $30 can openers for $10 to anyone who could come to the station and pay cash. He made payroll and that day started the concept for the most successful television direct sales network in history�Home Shopping Network. By 1985, Home Shopping Network was grossing $1 billion annually.

Paxson went on to buy more television, radio and media properties and engaged in a federal campaign to ensure diversity in broadcast television and cable. He was the driving force behind the must-carry language in the 1992 Cable Act and the 1996 Communications Act, which was upheld by the Supreme Court in 1997.

From 1991 to 1997, Paxson built a 46-station radio and TV conglomerate, which became the largest group of broadcast properties in Florida. His radio holdings also included state radio networks in Tennessee and South Carolina, and sports networks in Georgia, Pennsylvania and Virginia. In 1997, Paxson sold Paxson Communications� radio stations to Clear Channel for nearly $700 million and began to focus on developing PAX TV, a broadcast network promising family-friendly programming, which eventually became the seventh largest broadcast television network in the United States.

The Broadcasters Foundation of America has announced the recipients of the 2015 Ward L. Quaal Leadership Awards, to be presented at the foundation’s annual breakfast at 7 a.m., Wednesday, April 15 during the National Association of Broadcasters Show in Las Vegas

The National Association of Broadcasters has tapped James “Jimmy” F. Goodmon, Jr., vice president and general manager of Capitol Broadcasting Company New Media Group, to receive the first Digital Leadership Award